


And Then There Were Three

by DarkenedHeart



Series: If We Were Twins [4]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: (But I don't actually write the Spanish words), (Secretly working 'magic' in the background), AU, Alternate Universe - TWINS!, Another One?!?!, Bad - Not good- thoughts, Blood, Bozer meets Nick at the END, Brothers, CSI (Show) References, CSI/Macgyver (TV 2016) Crossover, Case Fic, Crossover!, Emotions!!!, Fake Police Procedures, Friendship, Gen, Gil's part is small (But very helpful!), I KNEW these Tages were going to be terrible..., Jack and Nick are Twins, Jack is a Spy, LOTS & LOTS & Lots of crazy..., MAY CONTAIN (will probably contain) MISTAKES!, Mild Gore, Neuro Toxin Made-Up Stuff, Nick is a CIS, Nick is a CSI, Nick speaks Spanish, Patty is AWESOME!, Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, Team is family., There will NOT be enough Tags, alternating pov, gun - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 14:32:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8582116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkenedHeart/pseuds/DarkenedHeart
Summary: Jack was honestly kidding when he mentioned triplets.So why is there a THIRD man running around with his face?---Jack wakes up in the middle of a murder. Every scrap of evidence, every part of the case points an accusing finger to the agent.Will the team prove him innocent?Or is he guilty after all?---





	

Jack wakes up with an empty bottle of whisky in one hand and a knife in the other.

He stares at both objects with a frown that only deepens once he realizes the knife is bloody.

And so are his clothes.

"No..." Jack whispers, looking around the room he just woke up in. It's a messy hotel suite, every item was tossed in the opposite direction where it was supposed to be. 

Jack slowly gets to his feet, teetering slightly when he's all the way up but he manages to remain standing.

He holds tight to the bottle and knife as he shuffles over to the open bathroom door. The light is pouring in to the darkened room and Jack's heart is beating harder and harder with every shuffled step.

When he looks through the door, his shoulder's sag as his eyes water.

There's a dead woman in the tub. 

Jack's head thumps against the doorway as he uses it to hold himself up. 

The woman was beautiful. Or, at least, she had been. The only part of her that wasn't stabbed or bleeding was her face. Her head was tilted towards the door, eyes staring off at nothing even though it felt as though they were staring right at Jack.

The agent curses wildly as he closes his eyes and hits his head against the doorway.

"What'd I do?" he chokes on the question as he slips against his support.

Then the door bursts in and the police rush the room.

Jack is thrown to the ground and his arms are viciously pulled behind his back. The agent remains silent as he's dragged out of the suite.

The voice of the officer reading his rights is a muffled murmur in the back of Jack's head. He stares straight ahead, only to prevent himself from falling down because he tripped over something stupid.

'Stupid. Monster. Killer. What did you do?! How could you? What will Mac-'

Jack is put in the back of a police cruiser and taken to the station for processing.

As the vehicle takes off down the street, silent tears fall from the agent's eyes.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac is in the gym, only up to his fourth pull up, when his cell phone rings.

"Gah," the blonde huffs in aggravation as he drops down to get it. He had barely started his work out routine and he was already needed? What were the odds? 

He answers the phone, pushing down his frustration, "Yeah, this is Mac."

"Mac, we've got a huge problem," Riley sounds out of breath over the phone, catching her teammate's attention.

"What's the matter? Are you okay? Is Jack okay? Bozer?" Mac's already grabbing up his gear to leave. 'Huge problem' meant rushing to the rescue, not dawdling at the gym.

"Yes and no on Jack," the techie replies with a heavy dose of hesitation.

"Riley, just tell me," the agent is already at his car, carelessly tossing his things in the back to get to the steering wheel faster. His brain was already running worst case scenarios: Jack was injured. Jack was missing. Jack's identity was compromised.

"Jack murdered someone."

That was not on the list.

"What do you mean he killed someone, Riley?" Mac snaps, not enjoying the partial answers he was being fed. "Start from the beginning!"

"Calm down!" Riley snaps back. She takes a breath. "This morning, police got a call from a hotel manager that there were screams heard from one of the suites. When the officers arrived, there was a bloody handprint on the door. They went in and found Jack standing near a dead woman's body with the murder weapon."

Mac's foot pushes harder on the accelerator as he weaves around cars that were frustratingly slow. The very thought of Jack being capable of what Riley was saying- No, Mac couldn't even allow the possibility to pass any part of his mind. It was impossible. Something else must have happened.

"You still there, Mac?"

The blonde agent blinks, pushing the accelerator all the way down to get through a yellow light. It was red before he even reached it, but he still made it through.

"Jack isn't capable of murder," Mac says with as much confidence as he felt. "Has he killed people? Yes. In self defense. But that doesn't make him a killer or a murderer. Someone set him up and we're going to make sure the police find out who."

Riley is silent for a long time. Mac is practically at their headquarters when she speaks again.

"Normally...I'd agree with you," the techie takes another deep breath. "But, Mac, they've got him on camera going into the hotel. And not coming out. His finger prints are everywhere as well as his DNA. If I was a cop....There would be no doubt in my mind that Jack was guilty."

"Then it's a good thing you're not a cop, Riley," Mac says angrily, upset that the woman would even entertain the idea that their friend could do anything criminal. Sure, Jack played 'mailbox baseball' or whatever it was when he was in collage. And, yes, he tee-peed houses on occasion when he was on a dare.

But pranks and trespassing were a far cry from murder.

Mac is still holding the phone against his ear as he steps into the building. He sees Riley first, the woman looking lost and scared as she holds her device while staring at the collections of screens in their briefing room. She turns in time to see him hang up and pocket his phone, hers just drops into her lap.

Mac steps into the room and instantly demands, "Show me everything they've got."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Nick clocks out of work with a tired groan. He waves to the incoming CSIs as he heads for the door. 

The Nevada sun shines so bright in his face, he has to raise a hand to shield his eyes so they can adjust. He brushes a hand over his head, he was growing it out again, and the feeling of the 'fuzz' of the interim part made him inwardly cringe.

"Where'd I put-?" 

'My sunglasses' remains unsaid as the sounds of a rapidly approaching helicopter fills the air. Nick looks up with everyone else in the vicinity and is just as surprised when the black chopper lands in a clearing right outside the crime lab.

A few officers raise their weapons at the helicopter as the door opens and a man steps out. Then something buzzes over their radio and they holster their weapons.

Nick's confusion grows when the man ends up being MacGyver.

"What you doing here, Mac?" the CSI asks as a greeting, taking the man's hand for a shake. He looks behind the blonde to try and see if his brother was going to come out next. When his twin doesn't show his face, he looks back to the agent, "Where's Jack?"

"Jack's in trouble," Mac tells him, his voice sounding frustrated and angry. Two more bad signs with the already bad word. "I need you to come with me so that we can clear his name."

"Shoot! Of course, Mac," Nick nods, the tired feeling vanishing with a new round of adrenaline. "But what is it he supposedly did?"

Mac grimaces even as he starts walking back towards the chopper with the CSI.

He turns back, his voice barely above the sound of the blades spinning above their heads, "Murder."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

The chopper takes them to a jet that flies them to another chopper which takes them directly to Phoenix headquarters.

Nick follows after Mac for most of the way into the building, but as soon as he sees Thornton in the semi-glass room, he storms in front.

"Where's my brother?" Nick demands of the woman, ignoring all niceties.

"Pleasure seeing you again as well," the woman says evenly, unaffected by the angry man only a step away from her.

"Listen, Miss Thornton, I don't know you," Nick starts, trying to get his temper under control and failing. "But I really, really hope you don't think that Jack would be able to do what Mac told me the cops think he did. It isn't possible!"

"Calm down, Mr. Stokes-"

"Calm down?" Nick shouts, taking a step back so that he won't lash out accidentally. "Calm down? Are you kidding me? I've been in this situation before. Now is NOT the time to 'calm down'!"

"Then just take a breath," Mac steps in, raising his hands in case he needs to physically restrain the CSI. "You're no good to Jack if you're so angry you can't see straight."

Nick stares at the blonde for several minutes, his chest moving as if he'd run the whole way there. 

Then he nods, a hand rising up to rub at his face before he can manage to look at the others without wanting to hit something.

"What evidence do they have against my brother?" Nick asks in a more subdued voice.

"They have him at the crime scene with the murder weapon," Mac starts off as Riley pulls up the crime scene photos on the TV wall. "They've got his fingerprints, DNA, and no reason not to suspect him."

"I can think of plenty of reasons," Nick grumbles as he looks the photos over. 'Whoever took them was just doing their job,' he reminds himself. "Did they take a blood sample from Jack? See if he was on something?"

Riley checks the information on her computer, then simply answers, "No."

"You need to have the M.E., or whoever do that," Nick says. "How 'bout other traces of DNA? Hair, saliva, skin? Were there any other fingerprints in the room?"

"The Investigators working the case are still processing the evidence they collected," the techie tells him. "He was picked up only this morning and we were notified about it a few hours after his arrest."

"The drug might be out of his system by now then," Nick shakes his head, turning to look at the team. "I'd still have Jack's blood taken. Have them run it for everything. Better yet, get me a sample too. I'll run it myself."

"There is one more thing about Jack's case that we haven't told you, Nick," Thornton speaks up calmly.

"It's not 'Jack's case' it just 'a case'. Jack didn't do this!" Nick instantly defends his brother.

"He's still involved, but-" Thornton raises a hand when it looks like the man is going to fight her on it. "I will refrain from calling it that."

Nick tries to force himself to calm down once again as he nods to the woman.

"What else do they claim to have on him?"

"This," Riley clicks a button and a video starts.

Someone looking exactly like Jack walks into the hotel with a blonde woman. 'Jack' looks directly at the camera and smiles.

Nick stares at the video as it pauses on the man's smile.

"Please tell me there are only two of you," Riley says with far less humor than she wanted. "The universe can't handle three of you, let alone the fact one of you might be a killer."

Nick turns to the techie, "It's been altered."

"It hasn't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm an expert on these things, and I do."

"Even experts make mistakes."

"Not this one. Not when it involves one of my team."

Nick turns back to the frozen video and stares, his brow furrowed as his mind tries to reason how it was possible.

"Maybe it wasn't altered-"

"It wasn't," Riley interrupts.

But Nick keeps going, "If that's the case, either someone is amazing at making masks, had surgery, or this was taken at another time and the videos swapped out."

"There's a time and date stamp," Riley says, almost apologetically. "It happened when it says it happened, and that is right before the murder."

"Then you need to talk to mask makers or plastic surgeons, because THAT-" Nick points to the screen. "Is not my brother and it isn't me either!"

Riley looks away. Nick's face is red, his blood vessels looking close to exploding out of his neck.

Mac steps closer and puts a hand on the man's shoulder.

"We know it wasn't you," the blonde smirks a little at the surprised look he gets. "We already checked. You were working a crime scene in Nevada at the time. Plenty of witnesses to back you up."

"Good." Nick nods, stepping away from the man's hand to walk over to Riley. "Where is that crime scene? I want to see it for myself."

"Nick-"

"That's why you brought me here, right?" the CSI turns to Mac. "You didn't waste all that time, fuel, and money to personally accuse my brother of being a killer right in front of my face. You want my help in this."

"We thought you deserved to know," Thornton agrees. 

"And assumed you'd just make your way here once you found out," Riley adds.

"Good," Nick takes a breath and calms down enough to smirk at them. "I appreciate that. And I'm sorry for over reacting."

"Hey," Riley waves it away like it was nothing. "He's family."

Mac nods, "For all of us."

Nick's smile grows a touch bigger, "Then let's go talk to our family before we solve this case for him, shall we?"

Mac lifts up his keys, giving them a slight jiggle, "I'll drive."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Jack was being kept by himself in one of the holding cells of the police station. He had been given a set of sweat pants and a shirt to wear since the Investigators needed his clothes for his case.

'My case. Where I killed that girl. Why can't I remember? Why did I do it?'

Jack had been trying to remember. Since he woke up, that's all he'd been trying to do.

The last thing he does remember doing, before he woke up in that hotel, was drive home. He was going to surprise Mac at the gym after the kid was already tired out and challenge him to a push up contest, winner buys lunch.

How did he go from driving home hungry to waking up a murderer? 

"You've got visitors," an officer tells Jack as he opens up his cell. 

The agent briefly wonders if he should deny whoever's come to call, but it might be Mac, so he stands. He needs to apologize to the kid for screwing up. Owes it to his team to repent while they shout at him. That way they can move on without him.

They don't deserve to work with a murderer.

 

Jack keeps his head down as he's lead back to the interview room. He'd already spent hours in there with two police detective shouting down his throat. 

He hadn't had the strength to say a single word to them.

After being seated, the officer cuffs his hands to the table before leaving. Out went the officer and in came Mac, Riley and Nick.

Jack's vision swims when he sees his twin.

'That's right. You've got more than just a team to be disappointed in you,' Jack tells himself as his double takes the only chair in the room. 'You've got a family as well. A family that thinks you're a hero.' 

He pulls his hands back when his brother reaches for them. 'Some hero.'

"Jack," Nick tries to get his brother to look at him, but the man refuses to, his eyes staring steadfast at the table just behind his wrists. He reaches for him, but Jack pulls away, sending fear spiking through Nick's veins. 

He narrows his eyes at his twin, "Jack. You didn't do this."

Jack tilts his head from side to side once, but doesn't speak.

"Nick's right," Mac takes one side of the CSI to stand at while Riley takes the other. "We know what the police are saying and we realize there is evidence against you, but we also know that you're not the kind of guy who'd do this. You're not a murderer, Jack."

Jack scoffs as he looks up at the group, their faces swimming in his vision.

"What happened, Jack?" Nick asks as he stares at his brother. There's so much hurt in the man's eyes. Nick vows anew to take the man responsible for his twin's pain down. 

Jack opens his mouth to speak, wants to tell them everything, even though there isn't much to tell, but he can't manage to form any words, let alone the sound of them.

The agent closes his mouth again as he looks away, unable to stare at the blurry images of the people he cared about.

The others saw it. Saw the guilt pouring out of the man. Nick's heart clenches as Mac repeats the question, hoping for an answer.

"Please, Jack, what happened? What do you remember?"

More silence. More of Jack just sitting there, staring at his hands that looked far too clean for him. 'Too clean for a murderer.'

"Did you see the video?" Riley asks him, wondering if that was why the man looked as if he was already convinced he was guilty.

Jack nods.

Yeah, he'd seen the video. It was permanently burned into his head now.

His face. It could only be his. Nick was the only one who looked like him and his little brother wasn't capable of doing something like this.

But Jack already had. He'd killed before. He still carries a gun, expecting to have to use it. Begging, on occasion, to use it.

Only a monster would do that. Jack was a monster. He knew it. His team knew it, or they soon would. It might be deep down at the moment, but everything surfaces.

Including dead bodies.

One of which Jack was responsible for.

 

Something hits Jack on the side of his head and he looks up. Nick is glaring daggers at him. A shiver runs up his brother's arm as he's sucked into the intensity of it.

"Stop being a moron and snap out of it!" Nick orders Jack. "You are not allowed to blame yourself for something you didn't do. Do you understand me?"

Jack shakes his head, wondering how his brother could allow himself to be so misled when all of the evidence pointed against him?

"Remember when I was arrested?" Nick changes tactics. "Remember how they arrested me? Wanted to lock me up in jail forever because they were convinced I had done it? How all the evidence pointed towards me? Do you remember that?"

Jack nods, voice still unusable. He remembers. Remembers wanting to strangle the idiot who thought he could let his brother take the fall for killing someone. Dreamt of all the different ways he was going to make that person PAY as soon as he found them.

He remembers how broken his brother sounded over the phone when he was allowed to use it while he sat in a cell he never belonged in.

If only that was something he could forget.

"This is no different," Nick tells him, reaching out to cover his brother's hands with his own. "Whoever did this to you pulled out all the stops. They did a real number on this case, but the truth will always come out. Especially when you have a hardcore Investigator in your corner. Someone who knows what they're doing and won't stop until the evidence backs up what they already believe to be true."

'What do you know, Nicky?' Jack wants to say but he still can't speak. He's gone silent for so long, he's not sure he knows how to say the words right.

His brother seems to get the message anyway, "I know because you are my brother. I know what you can and can't do and this is something you definitely CAN'T. You're not a murderer, Jack. I'm going to prove it. To you, to the cops, to the world if I have to. I am not leaving until you walk free and the person who did this to you is behind bars."

There's so much strength, so much conviction in Nick's voice that Jack wants to believe him.

Wants to, so desperately wants to, but he can't quite get himself to actually do it.

"Hold in there, Jack," Mac tells him solemnly. "We'll get the guy who did this. Don't you worry."

"Yeah," Riley adds with a crooked smile. "We're a team. No two cent faker's gonna trick us into thinking they're the real you."

There's a knock on the door right before the officer steps in.

"Time's up," he tells them.

"We've got a nurse to take a sample of his blood first," Mac tells the man.

The officer nods to find said person.

Nick holds onto his brother until the nurse arrives. The woman takes a few vials of the agent's blood, then bandages the injection spot before leaving.

"I'll be taking him back to his cell now," the officer tells the trio without any malice. It was surprising how considerate the man was being, since the cards were stacked against the man he was about to lead out of the room.

"Take care of yourself," Nick tells his brother as he's lead out of the room. "The next time I see you, I'll have good news."

Jack just stares ahead as he's taken back to the holding cells. 

 

Once his brother leaves the room, Nick silently breaks down in tears.

Mac guards the door while Riley rubs at the CSI's back. 

"You are way too comfortable crying in a police station," the techie tries to joke with him. It gets her a choked up laugh, so she calls it a win.

Nick quickly pulls himself back together, wiping at his face as he takes a few deep breaths.

"Sorry," he mumbles as he gets the tears to stop. "It's just he..."

They all saw the look of defeat on Jack's face. The way he barely sat in the chair. Could barely look them in the eye as he remained mute the entire time. 

Anyone who ever met Jack would know that his silence was the worst part.

Jack was a talker.

Nick gets to his feet, Riley stepping away to give the man room to push the chair back.

"He might think he's guilty-Heck!" Nick laughs. "The WORLD can think he's guilty, but I know better."

Mac nods to the other man, "Then let's stop wasting time here and go prove that."

They leave the station, a new firing burning in their hearts to clear Jack's name.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Thornton works her magic to get Nick, Mac, and Riley legal grounds to search the crime scene for evidence that will be admissible in court.

After the officer guarding the scene lets them in, Mac lets Nick take the lead.

"What exactly do you expect to find that the other Investigators didn't?" Riley asks as the CSI slowly starts to search the room.

"Some CSIs can get a little prejudiced," Nick comments lightly, focus more on his work than his speaking. "When you walk onto a scene that looks pretty cut and dry, you some times make conclusions before you gather the evidence."

Nick Moves a pillow out of the way to start scanning the bed.

"Grissom has yelled at many a man and woman for doing such a thing," he adds with an upward turn of the lips.

"Yeah, but, if this guy took the effort to look like Jack. Wouldn't it stand to reason that he'd try and alter the evidence too?" 

"Try all you like," Nick shrugs, moving his light to the floor. "Doesn't mean it's gonna work."

"And we can't just assume the guy would be smart enough to think of that," Mac adds, searching through a few things himself.

"They can look like us, sound like us, even alter their DNA to resemble us," Nick ticks off the possibilities like he's quoting a grocery list. 

"But," he adds as he continues to look the room over with his light. "They can't change their fingerprints and they can't alter their-Aha!" he plucks something off the floor with his tweezers, lifting it up to the light for everyone to see. Mac and Riley can barely tell the CSI is holding up a single piece of hair. 

Nick grins, "They can't change their hair. Dye it, yes. Cut it, yes. Change it? No."

"What if that's Jack's?" Riley points out the obvious.

"Keep your negativity to yourself," Nick says, but there's a sarcastic tone to his voice. "This little baby is too long for my dear brother's length. And before you ask if it's the vic's, I will answer; no, it is not."

Riley's head pulls back, impressed, "How can you tell?"

"Hair is my specialty," Nick winks at her, the evidence already in a baggy.

"We're going to go over this entire place, then have another team check it again," Mac tells the others. "I'm not leaving this case up to chance. I want it iron tight when we prove who the real killer is."

"I'm gonna have to apologize more fervently to Thornton later," Nick comments as he moves on from his spot. "I've never seen someone get permission to check a crime scene, let alone an out-of-stater, quite so quickly."

Riley grins, "That's her specialty."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Nick spends hours going over the scene with a fine toothed comb. He collects everything, including things that might go against Jack.

"Follow the evidence," the CSI had told Riley when she commented on it.

It's late when the next team of technicians arrive to take over the search. The room is illuminated with lamps as the teams switch places.

 

Mac carries two evidence boxes in front of himself as Riley and Nick follow behind.

There's a housekeeping cart in the hallway, and when the owner steps out of the room, Nick approaches her.

"Did you work here last night?" the brunette asks pleasantly.

The woman raises her hands, shaking her head as she speaks rapid fire Spanish.

Nick counters with Spanish, surprising the woman as he asks her the question once again.

The woman looks over to the two at the hall and shakes her head as she looks down at her cart.

"Por favor," Nick says softly, putting a hand on the cart to stop the woman from pushing it away. He says a few more things in Spanish to the woman, his voice low and pleading.

The woman sighs and nods, looking up at the CSI to tell him all she knew.

He smiles, thanking the woman in both languages before walking back to Mac and Riley.

"What was that all about?" the techie asks first.

"For a moment she thought I was Jack, come to reclaim the money he supposedly gave her to skip this floor," Nick says with a slight wince when he says his brother's name. "I explained that a man who looked like me was here and I asked if she could get me the money for a trade."

"Trade?" Mac repeats even as the woman approaches them with an old coffee can.

Nick turns a smile to the woman, pulling out his wallet to hand her the entire monitory contents before taking what she offers with a plastic bag.

The woman's eyes grow large as she looks at the pile, speaking even faster Spanish as she tries to hand the money back to Nick.

The CSI smiles at her, refusing in her language as he pushes the money back.

"Thank you," the woman says with a teary smile, holding the bills to her chest as she looks up at the giver. She says a few more things in Spanish before rushing away to take care of her earnings.

"Looks like Jack will be owing you for more than one thing when this is all over," Riley comments lightly as Nick adds the money to the topmost evidence box.

"Yeah," Nick says absently, putting the box top back on before walking to the elevator. The two follow after him, silence settling between them as they ride the elevator down to the lobby to go to their vehicle.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

While Mac drives to where Nick will be able to perform his tests, the CSI looks out the window.

Nick keeps running the facts of the case over in his head. He tries to reason why someone would go through all the trouble to frame his brother. It was possible it really was Jack who walked into the building, and the man was waiting in the hotel room. 

Why? Who? How?

Three simple questions without any answers yet. Nick sighs as he closes his eyes. 

Flashbacks of his time on the 'other side' of the judicial system play out behind his lids like a horror film.

Kristy Hopkins had been a bad idea from the start. A one night stand that turned murder and a nightmare.

He had been an idiot and nearly got sent to prison for something he didn't do.

He wasn't about to let Jack get the same treatment, even if his brother's case was far more extreme and intimidating.

 

Mac exchanges glances with Riley through the rear view mirror. The techie looks as unsure of their passenger as he feels.

The blonde hopes everything will be explained...and soon. 

He doubts either Stokes brother will be able to handle anything less than Jack being completely exonerated.

\--- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - --- 

"Should we wake him?"

"How did he even fall asleep in that position?"

"Where are those lab results? He'll want to see them when he wakes."

"Right here....I could poke him?"

Nick groans as he pushes his head off the cool surface of the work table he had fallen asleep on. Pulling an all-nighter was easier when you haven't already done that the day before. The CSI glances at his watch and grimaces when he realizes it's already noon the next day.

"How long?" Nick asks as he looks over to where Mac and Riley are standing.

"Only a few hours," the blonde tells him as his teammate hands over a pile of folders.

"Here are your test results," the techie says as the man takes the pile from her. "I got the gist of it, but feel free to explain everything anyway."

Nick quickly wipes the sleep out of his eyes before looking the papers over.

Most of them just confirmed Jack's presence in the room, which was obviously going to happen because that was where they found him.

The blood tests came back 'inconclusive' which only added to the confusion. 

The hair sample ended up being from an animal; a white, long-haired breed of dog.

None of the other tests really shined a light on the situation, or pointed to another suspect.

Nick drops the files on the table as he rubs at his eyes tiredly again. One of the computer screens was still running the finger print he pulled from the money.

He already ran the test through the 'regular' database. Thornton had put in the code to have the print checked with every sample recorded on file known to man.

The CSI turns to the agents, "Did you guys pull up anything on your end?"

Mac and Riley had run down the lead of people who might 'have it out' for Jack. Someone who hated him enough to pin a murder on him.

They shake their heads, there was no one. Their suspects were either dead or had an alibi.

Surveillance footage of the place gave them nothing either. 

'If it was really Jack walking into the hotel, how did the real murderer get in?' Nick thinks, looking over to the piles of paper sitting ride beside him. 'And if it was a double, how did Jack get in?'

A hand on his shoulder startles Nick out of his thoughts.

Mac offers the CSI a friendly smirk as he looks up at him, "Come on. Let's get something to eat. You look like you need a break."

"Mac, I'm fine-"

"If by 'fine' you mean nearly burnt out."

"I'm missing something."

"It'll still be there when you get back."

"Really, I'm okay."

Mac pulls the man to his feet and starts pushing him, much to the brunette's protests.

"Jack would want me to take care of you while he's out of the game," the blonde explains as he leads the man to the exit. "Just a few minutes out of the lab, Nick. We'll eat, talk maybe, then you can come back and things will be a little clearer."

Nick surrenders, walking under more of his own power by the time they make it through the front doors.

"Fine...But just something quick."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac takes Nick to Jack's favorite deli shop for sandwiches, hiding a smile as the man behind the counter makes his teammate's favorite without any prompting once he sees the twin.

The trio get some drinks from a market next door and take their food to the park within walking distance.

They settle at an isolated table near a water fountain.

Nick dives right into his food, showing more vigor for the food then he expressed.

Mac and Riley dig in as well, none of them talking as they just eat and breathe in the fresh air.

 

All too soon, the food is gone and the trio are just sitting on the table, watching the animals skitter around the trees, joggers pass by, or the stray person pass them as they go through the park.

 

Nick sighs tiredly as he gets up, "Let's head back-"

A shot rings out, sending the group to the ground as a woman screams. 

"Who's shooting?" Riley shouts as she tries to find the shooter from her place partially hidden under the table.

"T-tree," Nick stutters as he holds tightly to his shoulder.

Mac rushes to the man's side as blood pools under him.

"N-Not my first," the CSI tries to assure the blonde but the pained gasp doesn't really help with the convicting. "Still hurts like the Dickens though."

"I see him!" Riley calls out, pointing to a hidden figure dashing out of the park. "He's getting away, Mac!"

The techie gets up to chase after him, but the man turns back partially to shoot again and she falls back to face the earth.

"Really missing Jack and his gun right now," Riley growls as she lifts her head to glare at the fleeing man.

Mac is too focused on staunching the bleeding of Nick's shoulder to worry about their shooter. He quickly shrugs out of his jacket to rip the sleeves off his shirt. He rolls one sleeve into a ball and pulls back Nick's hand to push it against the wound. Next, he uses the other sleeve to fasten the makeshift bandage and ties it in place firmly with a tight knot.

Nick shouts out in pain as the knot is pulled as tight as it will go.

Riley has her phone out to call 9-1-1.

"What do we think?" the techie muses as she glances to where their mystery figure was last. "Angry civilian? Father of the victim? Random act of violence?"

"I don't know," Mac answers as he holds tight to Nick's wrist to keep track of the man's pulse. "What I do know is, this case just more dangerous."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Thornton puts a protective detail on Nick's hospital room while she talks to her operatives.

"How is he?" their boss asks.

"Ready to get back to work," Mac says, remembering the fight with the man over how that wouldn't be possible.

"He's just like his brother that way," Riley sighs, tiredly.

The pair had to distract the man from the nurse so she could give him a sedative.

"The finger print Nick got off the money came back with a match," Thornton tells them. "It's a hitman named 'Chameleon'. I also had the M.E. take a more thorough look at the victim's body and he found post mortem bruising with hand prints larger than Jack's size."

For the first time since the nightmare began, Mac begins to see a light at the end of Jack's troubles, "The bruising must have happened while the real murderer was moving the body." 

"But who is this 'Chameleon' guy?" Riley asks.

"He's solely known by the name 'Chameleon', no other identity is attached to him, like his records never existed before he started killing. His M.O. is to blend into his environment to take out his target. He's wanted in several other countries, but he's never been to the states...Until now."

"Do we have any idea who might have hired him?" Mac asks. "Any ideas of how to track him?"

Thornton shakes her head. "There's almost nothing on him. The only thing we know for sure is that he's male."

"So if Chameleon is so good at changing his appearance, there's a possibility that he made himself look like Jack and murdered that woman," Riley states what they're all thinking. "All we have to do now is find him and prove it."

Mac hits himself in the forehead for being so slow, "Why don't we just search for him?"

The two women look at him, confused.

"Uh...Yeah, Mac. That's the plan," Riley says with sarcasm.

"No, I mean, through facial recognition from security cameras throughout the city. Nick's here and Jack's in jail, so the only one left who could look like them is-"

"The Chameleon," both women finish in unison, their minds syncing with their teammate.

"I'll have it done," Thornton says, phone already dialing.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Back in Las Vegas, Nevada, Grissom is finishing his paperwork for the day. He's trying to decide what experiment he wants to check on first when a knock on the door brings his eyes and attention to the delivery man standing at his door.

"Gil Grissom?" the man asks, looking over a small package in his hands.

"Yes," Grissom answers, curiosity going up another level. He hadn't ordered anything. Anyone who knew him enough to send him a gift would have sent it to his P.O. box.

"Special rush delivery from Nick Stokes," the man says, offering the recipient a clip board to sign.

Grissom does, taking the package as his curiosity goes up yet another level as he returns to his desk.

Why did Nick send him a package? Did it have to do with whatever he was involved in with his twin's team?

The CSI opens the package and carefully removes the contents. There's a vial of blood wrapped up in ice packs; a note in a plastic bag lying underneath.

Grissom puts the blood to the side to get at the letter. It reads:

"Grissom, I need your help. The vial contains a blood sample from a male. I ran tests here and got 'inconclusive'. Is there anything else you can tell me about it? Or anyone else at the lab? Please, it's urgent. -Nick"

The older CSI raises an eyebrow as he picks up the vial again.

"Guess you're the experiment of choice."

\--- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac's eyes snap open. 

Nick is still fast asleep in the hospital bed, Riley just waking in the cot by the window.

A dream had inspired the blonde into wakefulness. He gets up to check the CSI's monitors quickly.

Satisfied at the normal readouts, Mac heads for the door.

Riley scrambles to go after her teammate.

"Where are you going?" the techie hisses as she closes the door from the outside.

"I got an idea I should have thought of hours ago," Mac explains without really explaining. He looks to the two agents guarding the door. "Do not let him leave."

They nod and the agent heads for the exit.

"What idea did you get?" Riley growls as she follows after the other man's fast steps. "And why are you speed walking?"

"Jack has been under arrest for over 48 hours and we still don't have this solved enough to get him out," the blonde explains, holding open the door for his teammate to walk through first before following after to the outside. "I'm really dropping the ball on this and I don't like it."

"Is that your guilt talking?" the techie huffs tiredly. "Nick getting shot is not your fault, Mac. You better not be blaming yourself for that."

Mac stops at his car and turns to his teammate.

"Of course I can blame myself for that," he tells her, then unlocks the car with a beep. "But for right now? I'm going to check out a roof."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac drives them back to the hotel where the problem began. He goes straight to the elevator and rides it to the top, having to take one more flight of stairs to get to the destination.

"I've been thinking of all the ways to get a person in and out of a building being monitored by cameras," the blonde explains as he walks to the edge.

"And that made you think of going to the roof because...?"

"The roof, as well as the outside of the building, is unmonitored," Mac smiles, finding the markings he was looking for on the edges of the building. "Plus this side is blind to surrounding cameras as well."

"Convenient."

"A villain's favorite word," the blonde mumbles as he takes a few pictures.

"So how did they do it?"

"Window washers."

Riley throws her hands up in the air, "What?"

"Look here," Mac points to the marks. "A line was put over the edge, something heavy attached to the end of it."

"Like the contraptions the window washers use to go from floor to floor," the techie gets on the man's train of thought.

"Precisely."

"If they had access from the outside of the building."

"Anyone could have come into that room."

"Let's go see if there are more signs at the crime scene's window."

"Ladies first."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

There are scrapings from something metal rubbing against the building. They're small and minor, but if you're looking for them, they couldn't be any larger.

"So are we thinking the Chameleon brought that woman here, killed her, then brought Jack in through the window?" Riley asks as she watches her teammate take pictures of the markings.

"It feels more likely than Jack being lured here and the double taking over," Mac remarks, remembering the smirk the 'Jack' on the security footage purposely gave to the camera. Why would Jack do that? He wouldn't. So the possibility of the Chameleon pretending to be Jack then bringing in the man to frame him was a more obvious choice to the blonde agent.

"Who thinks of all this crap?" Riley's voice snaps, loud and aggravated.

"People with evil on the brain and far too many resources."

Mac comes back into the room fully and closes the window.

"The point is," he says as he heads back to the door. "Someone else had access to this room. We've got to find out who and prove without a shadow of a doubt it was them who did the killing."

"My money's on the Chameleon," Riley states as she follows her teammate's quick steps.

Mac slaps the button as he stares at the numbers indicating where the elevator was.

"Yeah...."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Nick wakes with a wince, his shoulder is stiff and throbbing dully as he opens his eyes to take in his surroundings.

'Still in the hospital,' he thinks angrily as he notices he's alone. Before he can come up with a real escape plan, one that would have even the remotest chance of working on well-trained agents, a man in a suit enters the room and offers him a cell phone.

"You've got a call," the man states, handing the device over.

"Thanks," Nick clears his throat when his voice comes out groggy. He repeats a little clearer, "Thanks, man."

The agent nods, letting the phone go when the CSI has it and walking out of the room to give him privacy.

Nick puts the device to his ear, "Hello?"

"Nicky? You sound terrible. What happened?" Grissom's worried voice comes through. Even though his friend and boss sounds slightly alarmed, hearing his voice has Nick resting easier in the bed.

"It's nothing, Gris, I'm just a little tired is all."

Which wasn't a complete lie, he was tired; getting shot will do that to you.

"I'm sure you're keeping out important details but I'll ignore them in favor of telling you about what I found out with this blood sample you sent me."

That has Nick sitting up in his bed a little straighter.

"What did you find?"

"The 'inconclusive' compound in your brother's blood was a potent neuro toxin just recently discovered in a foreign country. It changes the brain's chemical balance to dampen the part of the brain that controls one's ability to think clearly and it affects their...Well, their self-worth, if you will. All in all, it's the ultimate 'self-hate' drug of choice, new to the market. Over half of the people who've been exposed to the powder committed suicide."

Nick shakes his head in amazement, not too surprised his teacher, who was thorough with everything he did, would figure out who the blood sample came from. He was more amazed at the brilliant man's ability to find things out other people would ignore.

"How did you figure all that out, Grissom?"

"It just so happened that I was researching a specific beetle indigenous to the area where the compound was discovered. I was planning on acquiring one of the beetles for personal study and I wanted to be well aware of its surroundings in case I wished to keep it alive for an extended period of time."

Nick smiles over the phone, "This is the second time in my life that I love the fact you are most brilliant entomologist in the world."

"I'm not and you know it, Nicky," Nick can hear the pleased tone even through the other man's humility. "But I appreciate the compliment that you think so."

The CSI lets out a small, short laugh, his head clearing from the painkillers enough to try and put the newest piece of evidence into the case's puzzle.

"Nick?"

The brunette blinks, surprised and a little ashamed of himself for forgetting about the man on the other side of the phone.

"Sorry, Gris. Uhm, thanks, I think I better get going."

"Nick," his friend repeats the name more seriously. "Are you okay?" 

There's a pause as Nick tries to think of a good enough lie. Then Grissom adds, "Is Jack?"

Nick sighs, all thoughts of lies dying in his head as it rests against the pillow.

"No, Grissom...He," Nick clears his throat as the image of his brother sitting in front of him, looking utterly guilty, flashes through his head. "It's like Kristy Hopkins, but much, much worse."

"Ah..." Grissom remembers that case. Remembers how he had to step back, get away from it, and let the evidence speak for itself instead of him trying to make it say what he wanted it to.

"Listen, this-this compound, is it deadly to those exposed? Beyond the suicide part?"

"Not so far," Grissom assures him. "There haven't been any thorough tests done on it, so I'd have your brother monitored if you can manage that. There's no telling what sort of mind set he's been in, or what it is now. How long this thing lasts is still unknown."

"More unknowns," Nick sighs, wishing he could get back to work already. He was tired. Not from the drugs, but from the uncertainty. Just NOT KNOWING was draining the energy from his very core. "Thanks again, Grissom. I'll...I'll call you later, okay?"

"Stay safe, Nicky. We're here for you if you need us."

"That means a lot to me....Bye, Gris."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

'Killer. Murderer. Blood. So much blood. Your fault. All your fault. Mac hates you. Riley hates you. Patty hates you. Nick-' 

Jack holds the sides of his head as his brother's face, his own face, looks at him with hatred in his eyes.

'I trusted you! I loved you, Jack! How could you do this? What happened to my brother?'

"No...No...No!"

'You killed her! You did it! YOU! Jack! You're a murderer!'

"I didn't...Did I? I can't-Can't remember...Can't...Remember...NICK!"

Jack's voice sounds hollow and far away to his own ears. He hasn't heard his voice in the eternity of his capture. His imprisonment in the small cell for killing that woman.

'Blood. Blonde hair. Her eyes. Her dead, cold eyes staring at Jack. He killed her. He took another life. HE did. She's dead. Dead. Because of Jack. Because he killed her.'

 

An officer looks over his shoulder at the man curled up tight in a ball on the floor of his cell. Their orders were to keep him away from unauthorized personelle, that he wasn't to be disturbed, and to keep an eye on him.

The young officer nervously looks around for someone higher ranking than him as the man starts shouting and writhing on the floor. 

"I don't get paid enough for this..." he mumbles nervously as the man breaks out into broken sobs.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Nick is just getting his feet over the side of the hospital bed when Mac and Riley enter his room. The CSI sighs in defeat as he hangs his head.

"Back," Riley tells him simply, voice without order but everyone could tell it wasn't a request. 

Nick shakes his head instead of listening anyway, "I have to see Jack. I think he might be sick."

Mac's worry feels like an actual spike in his chest, "What are you talking about?"

"I sent a sample of his blood to the crime lab back home," the CSI explains. "Grissom tested it for me and he says that compound I couldn't identify was a new neuro toxin. I think it's what's got Jack thinking he's guilty."

"Woah there, toxin?" Riley repeats nervously. "As in, kills the exposed person toxin?"

"So far the only deaths connected to the toxin were because the people who were exposed to it took their own lives," Nick shudders at the thought of his brother trying to kill himself while sitting alone in a cell. He looks to Mac, "Please, Mac. I just need to see him. See how he's holding up. Now that I know there's something messing with his brain, I might be able to reach him."

"It's too dangerous," the blonde tells him, hating himself a little when his words seem to break the mirror image of his best friend. "But I'll go see him for you. I'll make sure he's safe and I'll see if Thornton can get a doctor to have a look at him."

That seems to quell the CSI's desire to make an escape. 

Nick smiles at the agent, "Thanks, Mac."

"Of course," Mac smiles back. "He's family."

Mac looks to Riley to ask her to stay.

She beats him to it, "I'll stick around here. Make sure Nicky boy doesn't try a Houdini."

Nick huffs a laugh as he gets back in bed. "Like I could get out of here with all those super secret agents you have posted at my door."

"Don't try to con a con, Nick," Riley warns the man as she brings a chair closer to his bed. Mac heads for the door as his teammate pulls out her computer. "If you lay back and play nice, I'll bring you up to speed on what's going on."

Mac leaves the two to talk the case over once again as he heads for the police precinct.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac steps into the police station, hears a familiar voice shouting out over every other noise, and runs straight for the holding cell where his friend was being kept.

Several officers are gathered at the doorway leading to the cells, speaking lowly to themselves as they stare at the man further in.

Mac shoves them all out of the way, only stopping when bars separate him from his friend.

Jack is pressed flat against the wall, his pupils blown wide as he stares at something beyond Mac, beyond the realm of reality, his finger pointing as he shouts at it.

"No! NO! No! Not me! I didn't! I didn't!"

Jack just keeps repeating the words, occasionally shouting as his face reddens and tears streak down his face.

"Open this door!" Mac shouts at the officers who are just staring at their prisoner. One of them jumps, his hand going to his belt to shakily bring the keys in front of himself, only to drop them on the floor.

Mac lunges forwards and snatches the keys up, picking the right one on the first guess and getting into the cell before the officer can straighten from where he was reaching downwards.

"Jack!" the blonde shouts at his teammate in order for his voice to be heard over the other man's.

"No! No! NO!" Jack shakes his head, his hands moving to wrap around his head. "Not Mac. No-no-no-no, not him! I can't! No!"

"Jack," Mac says softer, pocketing the keys to free his hands as he takes a small step closer to his friend. "It's okay, buddy. I'm here. You're safe. Everything's going to be okay."

"No! No-no-no! Not Mac! No! Please!" Jack stumbles, pushing away even though there's no where else to go with his back already against the wall. He manages to push himself to the side, his back next hitting the corner of the room as he continues to stare at the man in front of him without seeing anything. "No! Please! No! Not Mac! Please!"

"Jack," the blonde takes two more steps closer, putting his body in the way of the other man escaping should he try moving again. "Calm down, buddy. Take a breath. You're safe. Nothing is going to happen to me or you. Breathe, Jack. Just breathe."

Jack takes in a shuddering breath, only to shake his head violently back and forth as his voice strains to repeat, "No. No. No. Not Mac. Please. No. No. Not me. Not him. No."

Mac takes two more small steps closer. If he leans forwards he can touch Jack, but he doesn't yet. He needs the man to calm down a little more first. Needs to wait for Jack's eyes to stop darting around wildly like a caged animal.

'Neuro toxin,' the blonde cringes at the words. 

'Whoever did this to Jack was going to pay,' Mac promises himself as he crouches down in front of his terrified friend.

"Jack," Mac smiles when the man's eyes stop to stare at him. "Jack, it's me. Do you know who I am?"

"No. No. Not Mac. Can't. Not Mac."

"Yes, I'm Mac," the blonde assures him calmly. "You aren't going to hurt me, Jack. No matter what you think happened, whatever's going on in your head..." he moves closer, just a little bit, just close enough to invade the inner regions of Jack's personal space, "None of it is real, Jack. You did not hurt that girl. You didn't hurt anyone."

"I did," Jack bites out angrily, his eyes remaining focused on the blonde. 

As much as Mac wanted to hear Jack talk earlier, he'd gladly take back the silent Jack over the heart-broken and self accusing Jack he had now. 

"I killed her. Me. I'm a monster. I did it. Me. All me. I did it."

Mac can hear the officers nervously moving around behind him, hears their murmurs of what Jack just said, and he forces his mind to block them out. 

He'll worry about damage control later.

"Jack," Mac risks everything to grab Jack's hand. The other man jumps, but doesn't try to pull out of the blonde's hold. "Listen to me. Are you listening?"

"No. Not me. Please. No."

"JACK!"

The man shakes again, his body trembling in front of Mac. The blonde can feel the tremors with his small contact and his hatred for the man who did this to his friend grows.

"You are not a killer," Mac tells his friend evenly, trying to put as much conviction and persuasion into his voice as he can. "We have proof that someone else was in that room. I also know you. You are not a killer, Jack. You're under the influence of a toxin. What you think you know is being manipulated."

Jack shakes his head as he weakly tries to pull his hand back.

"No. It was me. I did it. No. Please. Not Mac. I can't."

Mac pulls the man forwards, wrapping his arms around the figure as he starts shaking even harder.

"Shh..." the blonde hushes his friend as he grasps desperately at his shirt. "It's okay, Jack. You're going to be okay. I promise."

Jack cries against Mac as he shakes one more time.

Then Jack passes out.

"GET ME A DOCTOR!"

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Thornton stares at her operative laying unconscious on the hospital bed. The doctors were going keep him sedated until the toxin was fully out of his system. They assured her that no brain damage had occurred, just a chemical imbalance that should return to normal once the man's system flushed the foreign substance out.

But Patricia knew better.

She knew that even when you rescued someone, they could still be kept prisoner. 

She knew just because you patched up a wound, it doesn't mean the person stopped hurting.

Patricia didn't know what demons Jack Dalton had faced alone, but she knew he would need all the support he could get afterwards.

And she was going to supply as much from her side as she could.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac watches Nick's jaw clench tightly under the skin as he finished updating the man on his brother's situation. Riley's eyes seemed frozen in wide-eyed shock as the room falls silent.

"Can I see him?" Nick says eventually, his voice gruff and low.

"Of course," Mac nods. "but he'll be unconscious."

Nick nods, moving to get out the bed by himself.

"Hold it, crime stopper," Riley darts to where a wheelchair was resting and brings it to the man. "Just because we're allowing you to move around, doesn't mean you should do it on your own."

The CSI doesn't reply, doesn't argue as the techie helps ease him into the chair while Mac holds it still.

The two agents roll Nick to the room where Jack was being and step away without being asked after stopping the chair next to the man's bed.

Thornton nods to them as they exit the room and they approach their boss and teammate.

"How's he holding up?" she asks with a tilt of her head.

"As well as can be expected," Mac sighs out. "Do we have anything on Chameleon yet? Or this toxin? How it came into the country?"

"I had our research team look into it and it can't be found anywhere on this continent," Thornton informs them. "Someone must have had it smuggled in."

"And it being fairly new, not a lot of people would know about it, let alone make an attempt to bring it state side," Riley voices her own thoughts.

"What about people recently returning or visiting the country from the areas where the compound can be found?" Mac asks.

"I had that checked out and I got a few names," Thornton steps over to an agent and takes a tablet from him, her fingers swiping over the surface before turning its screen towards her operatives. "Here are all flights into the country since the compound was discovered."

"Not too many names," Riley muses, looking over the short list.

"Our country just recently established a peace treaty that allows flight in and out from the country," her boss explains. "One of the names triggered a red flag for Jack."

"Why?" Mac asks, zeroing on the name Thornton highlighted. "What connection does 'Jyuro Vonte' have with Jack?" 

Thornton looks around to make sure no one was trying to listen in. "The records are sealed, beyond even my clearance, but Jack was part of the team who took down Mr. Vonte's brother, Lerz Foice."

"Lerz Foice?" Mac repeats, recognizing the name. "The ruthless dictator? How is that possible? The man didn't have any family."

"It was rumored that Foice's mother had a second son that she kept hidden away when her husband took over. It was a way to prevent the brothers from trying to fight over who would be next in line."

"But if it was just a rumor, how do we know this Jyuro was the brother?" Riley points out.

"Jyuro is a diplomat. Recent steps have been made to keep better track of new diplomats coming into the country," her boss explains. "A DNA sample was taken from Vonte during customs and it was run in the database. Foice's DNA was already in the system and they matched as brothers."

"Do we have a picture of him?" Mac asks.

Thornton pulls up a photo on her the tablet to show her operatives. 

"Vonte fell off the grid two days after entering the country," Thornton adds. "I'm having any and all cameras searching for his image."

"What about the search for the Chameleon?" Riley asks.

Thornton shakes her head. "Still nothing. He's an expert."

Mac smirks, remembering Nick's words from only a few days earlier.

"Even experts make mistakes."

Riley's bag makes a noise and the techie slides into the closest chair to pull her laptop out.

"And our man just made his," she smiles, looking up at Mac. "I found the truck."

"What truck?" Thornton asks.

Mac explains the markings they found for a window cleaning pulley system, how the owner vaguely remembers seeing a crew working that day and had given them the name of the company.

"So," the blonde adds. "We contacted the company, but they said they weren't at the hotel because they were too busy reporting one of their vehicles with a rig being stolen."

"And while Mac was talking down crazy Jack," Riley adds. "I was having a program searching out any signs for the vehicle. It was just reported, found abandoned a few blocks from an animal shelter. Which would explain the dog hair that Nick found."

"But, wait," Mac's brow furrows. "If they abandoned the truck after the murder, how did the dog hair get in the room?"

Thornton waves a finger as the thought dawns on her, "Unless that's where he planned the job, possibly met up with his employer..."

Mac finishes for her, "And he might still be hiding there now."

"Waiting for the heat to die down," Riley nods.

 

"Great. Let's go."

 

The three agents turn to the man sitting in the wheelchair just outside the hospital door.

Nick looks up at the agents expectantly as they exchange glances

"We've been over this, Nick," Mac reminds him. "It's too dangerous for you to be out of this hospital."

"That's bull crap," Nick snaps. He grunts, pushing himself up with one hand to stand before addressing the others again. "I've been out in the field in a sling before. This isn't my first rodeo."

"Be that as it may," Thornton says evenly. "You're still injured, under my protection, and you'll be remaining here with your brother."

"You brought me here to help my brother."

"We brought you here because we assumed you'd come anyway."

Nick's eyes narrow as he glares at his brother's team, "Listen, as much as I 'appreciate' y'all taking care of me, I can take care of myself. I'm not shot in my firing arm. I'm not defenseless and I'm certainly not sitting this out."

Mac tries again, "Nick, be reasonable-"

"Reasonable left the building when a madman hired a killer to frame my brother for murder," the CSI snaps again, voice biting and harsh. "Reasonable was no longer an option when they pumped him full of some unknown substance so that he'd blame himself and shake like leaf in a corner." 

Nick takes a deep breath, eyes shining as he stares down the agents with determination. "This entire situation is unreasonable. Why should I be the exception?"

Mac lowers his head, trying to come up with something to counter the other man, when Thornton speaks up.

"Take him with us."

"What?" Riley asks as she rounds on the woman in surprise. "You can't be ser-"

"We're all going," Thornton ignores the techie's objections. "We all go, we watch each other's backs. Maybe we finally get some answers to this mess."

Thornton steps closer to Nick, her back straight as she looks down at the man like a headmistress of an upper crusty school.

"If I do this for you," she tells him slowly and with steel in her voice. "You follow my orders. You do what I say. If I tell you to fall back, you do so without question or comment. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Nick nods, unshaken by the other woman.

The corner of Thornton's lip curves upward in approval, "I'll get you a gun. We leave in five."

Mac watches his boss go, noticing the controlled step of her heels as she heads for the elevators. It would be easy for her to restrain Nick in the hospital, but she chose to allow the man to come with them nonetheless.

He smiles. Regardless of her tough, outer exterior, Patricia Thornton was a softy.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

The team arrives where the van was located. It's early morning, the sun just having risen enough to give light to see. Riley is still putting in the commands to use the satellite to check for heat signatures, when a white dog comes trotting down the street. 

The dog's paws are stained with red and the team exits the vehicle to follow the animal back to where it came from.

More dogs bark at the four strangers as they carefully make their way towards the back of the shelter. There's a large, metal shed set a few yards away from the main building. A back car with its trunk open is parked next to it.

Thornton raises her gun towards the shed, motioning for the others to remain where they were as she approaches. Nick nods, his weapon out and ready should the woman require backup.

They all freeze when Jyuro Vonte starts dragging something wrapped up in a blanket out of the shed.

Thornton cocks her weapon and the man stops.

"Put it down and step away," Thornton order the man as she takes a few steps closer. Vonte complies, raising his hands above his head, his shoulders still hunched over, as he takes two steps away from the body and towards the car.

"Don't try anything!" Thornton barks when the man makes a move to take a third step.

Mac, Riley and Nick step away from their spot to approach. Vonte looks up and immediately lowers his arms as he glares at Nick.

"Once again you live!" the man spits, his accent heavy as he points to the CSI. "I show the world how you are a killer and yet you walk free! Then I shoot you, but you live!"

"That's one more mystery solved," Riley mumbles under her breath to the men at her side.

"Why did you frame me? Why me?" Nick asks the man.

"You killed my brother!" the man shouts.

"So you framed him for murder?" Riley scoffs. "Next time, key his car!"

"What would you know?" Vonte scoffs, turning his hatred towards the young woman. "Do you know the sins that man carries?"

The man points a finger at Nick, "Do you know the pain he has made? The families he has destroyed? For what?"

Vonte spits on the ground as close to Nick as he can get. "For the sake of country."

"And what did you kill for?" Mac speaks up, anger burning at the man for everything he's done. "You had an innocent young woman killed just to put Jack in prison. Death is never a good thing. How is revenge a greater reason to kill?"

"Penance and absolution," Vonte explains. "Jack Dalton deserves to die slowly in the heat of my country's sun while the insects feast upon his flesh."

"Descriptive," Riley cringes.

Thornton has had enough. She walks over to the man and forces him onto his knees.

"Jyuro Vonte, you are under arrest," she tells him as she cuffs his hands behind his back.

Mac approaches the blanket, pulling it back with a stick to see what was inside.

Just like they all expected, the Chameleon's dead body is wrapped up inside; his face still looking like Jack.

Seeing what his friend would look like dead has Mac quickly replaces the blanket with the stick and walking away to breathe.

\---

Vonte glares at Nick until he's dragged away by agents a few minutes later.  
He doesn't make a sound.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

With Vonte in custody, and the body of Jack's look-alike, even more evidence is quickly found to exonerate the agent and put the foreign diplomat away to a black site where he will never be heard from again.

By the time Jack wakes up, toxin free, his name is as clear as his head.

\--- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - --- --- - --- -- --- - --- 

"You didn't have to wheel me out when I left earlier."

"Earlier was an emergency."

"This is ridiculous."

"Just go with the roll, little brother."

Mac is pushing Nick in a wheelchair, while Riley pushes Jack. The CSI was never 'officially' released from the hospital and the two uninjured members of the Phoenix team were enjoying forcing the twins to follow hospital release policies.

Mac goes into the elevator first, turning the contraption with its occupant around to wait for the others.

"I am not going to be packed in there like a sardine," Riley tells them with a small grimace at the thought. "We'll take the next one."

"See you down there," Mac waves with one hand as the doors close.

Riley waits for the numbers to start their downward dings before speaking.

"I'm sorry, Jack."

The man turns in his chair to look up at his teammate, confused.

"What the heck you sorry for, Ri?"

"Back when this first started, when the alert of your arrest and all the evidence against you was on those screens...I," she looks away, ashamed of herself for what she was admitting. "I thought that you....That you had done it."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Riley."

The techie turns her eyes back to the man in front of her. She doesn't see hurt or betrayal in his eyes like she thought she would. She doesn't even see any anger.

All she sees is Jack's smile which makes her frown.

"I think you're still under the influence of something, Jack, because you're not making any sense."

"Although I might wish to be high as a kite right now, no," Jack chuckles. "I am not under any other influence other than that of my own conscience."

"Then how can you sit there and not be angry at me?"

"There's nothing wrong with having a little doubt," the man says quietly, looking down at his hands in his lap. "Especially when there's plenty of reasons to have it."

Riley rounds the wheelchair to gape at her friend better.

"I should've known better, Jack!" she tells him firmly. "I took one look at that video and I said you were guilty. I thought you were guilty! Without even thinking it through, I just...I just judged you and that was wrong."

"Ri," Jack sighs, looking up at her with a fond smile. "You might've had a moment where you thought me capable of something bad, but not for lack of evidence. I can't say that I wouldn't have thought the same thing. Actually," he lets out a huff, the noise sounding a little pained. "I did think some of those thoughts. I was convinced I was a killer. So I'm not about to blame other people for thinking the same thing."

"But if it was just up to me, you'd be sitting in a prison cell for the rest of your life while the real killer got away."

"But he didn't."

"But he could have!"

"But, but, but, but, but!" Jack throws his hands in the air, gaining a few curious or worried looks from other people in the hallway. "We can't live our lives on 'buts' or 'could haves' or 'might have beens'. We gotta live with what we got, and what I got is the best team in the world. And before you deny it," he points a finger at the woman when she opens her mouth, "You are part of that team."

Jack reaches forward and takes one of Riley's hands in his.

"You might have doubted me, Riley, but you still chased after the facts like a bloodhound regardless. You never fought against Mac or Nick for thinking I was innocent. You didn't try to convince anyone I was guilty," he smiles, swaying their joined hands slightly as he continues to stare up at his friend without any malice. "You found the real bad guy and now I'm free to be the carefree dope I'm undeniable good at being."

Riley startles herself with a laugh, pulling both hands to cover her mouth as it comes out as more of a shout.

"Knew I'd get you with that one," Jack smiles, nodding his head towards the elevator. "Now, you gonna push that call button? Or are we going to wait for Mac and Nick to come looking for us?"

Riley pushes the button before returning to her spot behind the wheelchair.

She puts her hand on her friend's shoulder, leaning close to whisper, "Thanks, Jack."

Jack pats the hand as the elevator opens, "Thank you too, Riley."

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac drives them back to his place, Bozer out of the house working a double shift at work. They're all sitting on the small back deck, a beer bottle for everyone but Nick; he was still on painkillers.

The sun is setting right behind the treetops, the birds chirping along with each other as if to heal the group with their song alone.

It's not until after he's downed his first bottle that Jack opens up about what happened between him and Vonte.

 

"I was in Black Opps for one mission. I couldn't stomach it after that." Jack smiles at Mac. "I know I complain about it some times, but it really means a lot to me that you don't use a gun. It makes me have faith in the human race."

The agent stares at his hand holding the beer bottle in a loose grip.

"It was an assassination for a blood thirsty dictator. The country is thriving now, but..." Jack shrugs, looking away to admire the sunset as the orange colors illuminate his face. "A life's a life. And I just took his. No matter how bad they are, when you're alone at night and you can't sleep..."

Mac puts a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder from where he's standing behind him. Silently letting him know he understood, didn't judge him for what he did, while also offering him comfort.

Riley reaches over to pat the man on the leg, and Jack smiles at her.

"I'm just gonna..." Jack clears his throat as he stands. "I'm gonna get another one. Either of you want?"

"Nah," Riley shakes her head.

"I'm good," Mac assures his friend as he makes a secret escape into the house.

Nick gets up and follows after his brother.

 

Nick finds his brother staring into the refrigerator. He crosses his arms as he stops to rest against the counter.

"He lost his brother," Jack says sadly, eyes still staring into the fridge. "I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing in his shoes."

"Of course you'd be different," Nick smirks when he remembers Riley's words from earlier. "You would've keyed the man's car."

"Nick, I'm being serious."

"As am I."

Jack's face goes from blank to angry in a second, his eyes falling on his brother with a glare as he slams the refrigerator door closed.

"If anyone killed you, I'd set the world on fire seeking revenge."

"No you wouldn't," his bother tells him confidently.

"And how the heck do you know that?"

"Because you have a big heart and Mac to ground you."

Jack's anger deflates.

"I know you'd hurt, I'd be the same way, but you wouldn't kill an innocent person to get back at the man or woman responsible. You'd go after them, wouldn't be able to stop yourself, and you'd bring them to justice. Mac would make sure of that. And deep down," Nick puts a hand on his twin's shoulder. "Deep, deep down, you'd know it was the right thing to do."

Jack sighs, trying to take another swig of beer before remembering it was empty.

"Dad was right," he grimaces as he opens the fridge again to get another beer. "We are panty wads."

Nick stars chuckling as his brother opens his drink.

Suddenly, the front door opens and Bozer walks in.

"Sorry, Mac! I know I told you I'd be out tonight but the boss didn't need me. Hope you don't have a pretty lady in here."

Bozer waves to the twins as he passes them.

"Hi, Jack. Hi, other Jack."

The friendly smile falters on the young man's face as he stops, his shoes comically screeching with the sudden lack of steps, and he turns to look at the twins more carefully.

"MAC?!" Bozer's voice squeaks. "MAC?!"

The blonde comes rushing into the room, Riley on his heels, and he quickly sizes up the situation.

"Uh," Mac laughs nervously as he moves to stand in between the brothers and his best friend. 

"Bozer," the blonde nods to his friend. "This is Jack's twin brother, Nick."

Nick raises a hand and offers the darker skinned man a wave.

"Hi, how are you?"

"How could you man?" Bozer snaps at Mac. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"I can explain-"

"All the missed opportunities to do an evil twin story for one of my movies!"

The group blinks at Bozer in surprise.

"Nick, my man!" the up-and-coming director approaches the CSI. "Have you ever been in showbiz? Have my guys told you of my work? I may be a simple chief by day, but the DREAM is to be a famous movie director. You know what, guys?"

Bozer looks at the others with a judgmental stare, "I bet you Nick here would have been President Taft."

Nick smiles, "He's one of my favorite presidents."

Bozer high-fives the CSI, "My man!"

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

**Author's Note:**

> **I am legally inclined to state I own nothing.**


End file.
